NBA: Jordan outplays Duncan as Clippers piece together best effort of year.

Tim Duncan held the ball in front of him while stationed just off the free-throw line in the third quarter Wednesday night at Staples Center. In an instant he would rise for a jump shot or maybe he’d make a pass to an open teammate.

You’ve seen it a thousand times during the San Antonio Spurs center’s career.

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan has seen it, too.

Jordan reached out and flicked the ball from Duncan’s hands, raced down court, accepted a pass from Chris Paul and delivered a thunderous dunk that propelled the Clippers to a 106-84 rout of the previously undefeated Spurs.

Jordan and the Clippers were too fast and too furious for the Spurs.

This was by no means a one-man show, however.

Jordan had plenty of help as the Clippers ended a two-game losing streak with their best and most consistent game of the season.

The Clippers (3-2) rebounded from a pair of lifeless showings to deliver a payback of sorts to the Spurs (4-1).

Jordan punished Duncan and the Spurs near the basket by scoring 20 points on 10-of-12 shooting, grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking four shots in an electric performance that had a sellout crowd of 19,060 on its feet.

“We still remember what they did to us a couple of months ago,” Jordan said, referring to the Spurs’ resounding sweep of the Clippers in the second round of the playoffs last spring. “That was extra motivation for us.”

Duncan scored 10 points for the Spurs, but spent the fourth quarter on the bench after the Clippers took an 82-62 lead into the final period. He also had a team-leading six rebounds, but the Clippers outrebounded the Spurs 46-29 by game’s end.

“We got blown out,” Duncan said. “We didn’t play well. We could go into the logistics of the whole game. The bottom line was we didn’t play well. They played better. We lost. They won. Bottom line. End of story.”

The Clippers led by as many as 28 in the fourth quarter.

“We needed a win like this,” Paul said.

After rousing victories over Memphis and the Lakers to start the season followed by lackluster defeats to Golden State and Cleveland, the Clippers are very much a work in progress.

“Who are you guys?” a reporter asked Paul after the game.

“Good question,” Paul said. “We’re still trying to figure that out.”

One thing is certain, however.

When the Clippers run and jump and play with energy and excitement, they’re difficult to beat.

“The one thing we said before we went out there was, ‘Let’s have some fun tonight,’ ” Paul said of the players’ pregame pep talk. “It’s fun to stop teams because we see them get frustrated. We know how we look when we get frustrated.”

Elliott Teaford covers the Clippers and the NBA for the Southern California News Group. He has written about hockey for the past five years and is looking forward to thawing out after so many days and nights sitting in frozen rinks. He also covered the Lakers for five seasons, including their back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and '10. He once made a jump shot over future Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton during a pickup game in 1980 at Cypress College.

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